with loaded pickbow nudges the cleric Keiliff and says"well boss, we ought to meet and greet the jolly party coming downriver. Give time for folks to get ready for any surprises."In case a surprise of his own is needed he urinates in his empty flask of rum and screws the top back on. "That'll surprise anyone wanting to whet their appetite for more than a friendly drink, don't you think"

The cat stops occasionally, batting at a passing fly or staring intently at nothing. Whe Bonnie goes to the riverbank, he stops a pace behind her and sits, tail wrapped around his feet.

I stowed away on one o' them ships what comes here. Had to- there's a cat in Saltmarsh- goes by th' name 'Demon'- makes me look like a kitten! Biggest Gods-damn cat I ever saw! He wuz gonna kill me, so I hadda escape. I spent three-four days of chasin' rats onna ship. Ship rats taste like pine tar- don't eat 'em unless ya gotta. I'm 22- just had my birthday 'fore I woke up a cat.

Oh, yeah- forgot I hadn't told you dis. Dere I was in some no-name alley near the MoneyLender's guild. I got my target in sight. I cut his t'roat, I make my bones. Plus, I get enough gold from his pockets ta pay for the rest of my trainin'. Just as I'm ready ta grab-and slash, some broad dumps her chamber pot out a secont-story window. Da banker looks around, sees me, yells for his bodyguard. Next ting I know, I feel _my_ t'roat gettin' cut, dere's a white light, and I wake up in Saltmarsh- a cat. So dat's me- Aldo Wheeler, assasin-in-training.

Franny is shocked to hear laughing voices out here in the middle of the jungle. Nothing about this jungle is funny!! She hides in the bushes as well, wondering why the others seem so eager to give up their position. She mumbles to Brufrig as they watch the waterway together.

With Krystal still completely out of site, Brufrig and Franny squat in the bushes at the edge of the river bank. They peer down the river, trying to remain unseen. Waes follows their actions, but prepares some of his magic in case the laughing noise is just a front. Ferris suggests that they should hail whoever it is, all while filling his empty rum bottle with his own urine.

Bonnie and her new feline friend press through the bush and show themselves at the edge of the bank. She adjusts her cleavage and flicks her hair back just so. She bats her eyelashes and waits for the loud men to come calling, waving her arm in the air. Aldo sits a bit behind, purring to her loudly over the sound of the rushing waterway. The elf thief tries to digest the cats words as the sound of the men gets closer. Keilif freaks out a little once Bonnie decides to show herself to them, but he has finally learned his lesson after trying to tell the sharp tongued elf what to do. He stays put and hides with the others, sighing heavily to himself as he waits.

Eventually the group catches a glimpse of 2 middle aged human men dressed in nothing but their underclothes rounding the next bend and heading straight for them. They seem to be having trouble standing upright and keeping their balance on a long skiff-like bamboo raft. They are using long poles to push themselves along and keep their raft in the center of the river. They don’t look like they have a clue what they are doing as the raft mostly just spins out of control on its own accord. They laugh loudly every time the skiff spins sideways and they splash each other with their poles whenever they can without falling into the rushing water. The only thing that can be seen on the raft other than the pair of giggling men is a large pile of what looks like rocks stacked haphazardly in the center of the long, narrow skiff.

The 2 men don't spot the she elf at first, but once she begins waving at them, they notice her immediately. Expressions of sheer horror cross both of their faces as they stare at Bonnie and then look back at each other in a panic. They shove off with their long poles, pushing their rock laden skiff towards the opposite bank as fast as they can. When they are almost up to the point at which you all are, they jump off of the skiff and dive for the far side muddy bank. They splash into the shallow water near the edge, barely able to keep from being swept down river in the strong current. They look to be trying to flee into the jungle on their side as they claw their way up the muddy opposite bank about 25 feet away from your position. The skiff starts to float harmlessly down the river along with their push poles.

Franny shakes her head at Bonnie's actions. She walks out toward the river, still maintaining cover, trying to get a better look at the the skiff. Well, you scared'em good, right outa their britches!! Can someone help me with the floaty them boys were on...I got rope, anybody got a hook to attach to it? Franny pulls out her 50ft of rope.

Waes drags himself out of the undergrowth and helps try and secure the raft and it's poles. He will enter the river if he has to to attach a rope, but will tie a rope around his waist first and hand it to franny. Keep a tight hold of me won't you, he says before dropping his pack on the ground and paddling into the river water

was just about to think that the guys ran away from something other than Us. He turns around with priest, checking out if he is getting really sticky by placing the pee pot on his back surreptitiously. If anything sneaking on us is less than friendly, he fires his pickbow bolt.

Bonnie is rather offended by the men's reactions to seeing her. She asks the others if there is something wrong with the way she looks. Other than being a little sunburned and covered in bug bites, she looks as pretty as ever. She sniffs her armpit nonchalantly, hoping no one notices.

The dwarves don't miss their chance to ridicule the she elf with a little good natured ribbing. Franny and Waes try to secure the skiff before it floats away, but by the time they get their rope out and knots tied, the thing is already far beyond their reach, spinning around wildly down the swift current. Then they remember seeing similar skiffs beached at the last village. Aldo the cat seems oblivious to the behavior as he watches on in amusement. He just sits there purring and flicking his ears. Bonnie takes the men's reaction and her new cats ear flicking to mean that the group must be about to be set upon by something terrible coming up from behind. She looks around with her sword in hand, but there is nothing there.

Ferris is also confused by the sudden turn of events. He thinks Keilif might be the reason for all of the confusion, so he tries to test out his theory by attempting to see if his bottle of piss will stick to the wrinkled priests back. The sour smell of Keilif mixed with the ammonia in the gnomes urine is unpleasant to be sure, but the bottle doesn't actually stick to the dour human. Keilif turns and gives him a confused look, but decides not to ask.

The two nearly naked men make it to the top of the muddy bank and disappear into the jungle foliage on the opposite side of the river. They never even look back once, making Bonnie feel even worse about herself.

The sea priest speaks up. "Has any of you ever seen those men before? It is pretty hard to judge intent when someone is wearing nothing but their undershorts."

"I have never known these natives to deal with anyone but me, so seeing those two out here makes me all the more nervous. It is possible that they were part of the herb pirates that Bonenose spoke of. Whoever they were, we need to be a little more cautions now that there are others out here aware of our presence. Though I cant imagine them surviving long over there with nothing but a pair of wet skivvies."

The dwarf shrugs. Krystal ducked into the woods a few minutes ago. Haven't seen her since.I gotta say, I have a bad feeling about those guys on the raft. Why they were out here dressed like that,I don't know, but something has them terrified. I don't think they were actually afraid of you, Bonnie.I think whatever spooked them is back upriver and they aren't taking any chances. We should move slowly, quietly, and cautiously until we know what may be out here.

The dwarf moves to take point again, assuming the wayward elf will return when she is ready.

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